Israel's military called for more evacuations in southern Gaza on Monday as it widened its air and ground offensive and said its military was taking "aggressive" action near the city of Khan Younis. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel on Monday to avoid exacerbating the “already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and to spare civilians from more suffering". Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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Summary:
- The Israeli army said it was taking "aggressive" action against "Hamas and other terrorist organisations" in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, after dozens of military tanks entered the area on Monday.
- Residents – many of whom had already fled northern Gaza – were forced to flee Khan Younis on Monday for Rafah, a border city further south in the Palestinian enclave. In a new estimate, OCHA said roughly 75 percent of Gaza's population has been internally displaced.
- The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Monday of "intolerable" living conditions in Gaza as the UN Secretary-General appealed to Israel to avoid exacerbating “the already catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian enclave.
- The main telecom company in the Gaza Strip said Monday that mobile telephone services and internet connections had been cut across the Palestinian territory.
- Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to the Israeli government. Since then, roughly 15,900 people, including about 6,000 children, have been killed in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry said.
Key developments on Sunday, December 3:
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Three commercial ships were hit my missiles in a Houthi attack in the Red Sea on Sunday. A US warship shot down three drones.
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A US air strike killed five Iraqi militants near the northern city of Kirkuk as they prepared to launch an attack on US forces in the country, three Iraqi security sources said.
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The UK's military said it will conduct surveillance flights over Gaza to help locate hostages held by Hamas since its October 7 attack on Israel.
- More than 100 protesters at the COP28 UN climate summit called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war on Sunday.
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The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court rounded off a historic first visit to Israel and Ramallah by posting video and written messages on Sunday, saying that a probe by the court into possible crimes by Hamas militants and Israeli forces “is a priority for my office".
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”. The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
